Reclamation of a Scattered Race
by Andybiotics
Summary: The Absolute Record. The archive of all Forerunner knowledge. It will lead the UNSC to heights unimaginable. But it will also reveal the impossible that lies hidden within the galaxy.
1. The Timeless Storm

Reclamation of a Scattered Race

**Hi and welcome to my new story. As a cross over between Mass Effect and Halo I wish to try something different with a somewhat recurring plot type as well as explore a unique take on the cross over. I hope you enjoy!**

(7th July 2569 - UNSC controlled Shield World 006 – Trevelyan – ONI Headquarters)

Standing in his office overlooking the interior of the colossal structure that was the Sharpened Shield, a soldier in a dress white uniform was wrestling with a decision that would affect the lives of every man, woman and child that he swore to protect to his dying breath.

But the decision had to be made. The only other course of action was to ignore the discovery and hope that nothing would come of it. But he knew that that course of action would only make the situation worse, not better with time.

He had seen it happen to his former captain so many years ago.

But he had to be sure of the facts before he made any action. There was the warning from the Forerunners to consider.

Without moving, he called out to the room "Hermes, inform Dr. Glassman to report to my office to discuss research file #422707-AR-E2. Make sure to tell him it is urgent."

"As you wish Admiral Lasky" came the rushed reply of his personal A.I. Hermes. Though unlikely, Lasky hoped that Dr. Glassman would tell him that the research data was at best a translation error. Even if it turned out not to be part of the warning the ramifications would be impossible to predict as they had nowhere near enough information to work with, except that the impossible had been hiding within the mostly unexplored galaxy.

"Sir Dr. Glassman is here to see you. Do you wish for me to send him in?" spoke Hermes in his rushed voice.

"Good, send him on in" Lasky replied in a somewhat deadpan voice. Though Hermes' help was invaluable and Lasky would never have been able to keep the 14th Fleet charged with the defence of Trevelyan organised and prepared, he was sure that the Head of ONI programmed the AI to constantly ask obsolete questions just to get on his nerves. A small pain he would gladly take instead of her full wrath which he had seen her deliver in the past.

It was something that he truly never wanted to experience.

The doors to his office parted and a man wearing a white lab coat entered the room. Despite the years that had passed since their first meeting, Dr. Glassman did not look to have aged at all. Such were the medical advances they had made in recent years.

"Dr. Glassman thanks for coming but I'll cut to the chase. Is the information accurate? Could there be any chance that it is simply a mistranslation?"

Dr. Glassman replied with a look somewhere between understanding and excitement "Admiral the information coming in from the research expedition at the Forerunner archive, while nowhere near complete, is accurate. There is a second Earth with another human civilisation living on it within this galaxy."

"But why? Why would the Forerunners do such a thing?" asked Lasky, hoping to understand the motives behind the Forerunners.

"That is something we can't say at this moment in time. The amount of information to decode and unlock is vast but we are certain that it has something to do with the warning about the Timeless Storm" replied Dr. Glassman.

"Speaking of the warning what more have the research expedition uncovered?"

Dr. Glassman paused at that question, giving Admiral Lasky a clear indication that what was coming was not something he wanted to hear.

"What we have been able to determine is that what the Forerunners referred to as the Timeless Storm deals with two specific quantities. First is that the data shows that the Timeless Storm predates the Forerunners by quite a large but indefinable amount of time. It is an event that the Forerunners say repeats itself continuously but we have been so far unable to determine what that event is. They were able to stop this event without too much difficulty but were unable prevent it from recurring in the future. I am sorry Admiral but there just seems to be a complete lack of appropriate definitions to accurately translate. But we were able to gather that this Timeless Storm was considered an abomination to the Forerunners' belief in the Mantle."

Taking this in Lasky knew it was bad. The archive of the Forerunners actively tried to translate the Forerunner glyphs into the closest appropriate wording, but here is just seemed to fail.

Remembering that Glassman said that there were two specific points he asked "What was the second quantity? Has the research team any definitive answers regarding it?"

Here, Dr. Glassman shifted uncomfortably and answered in a defensive manner "Sorry Admiral but I don't know. The head of the research team has classified that part and won't disclose it yet until she has conclusive evidence. It was something she would only disclose herself at the next meeting later today."

Lasky understood Dr. Glassman's nervousness. The head researcher was also the current head of ONI.

"Fine, that will be all Glassman" as soon as the words left his mouth, Glassman rushed out of the room, probably returning to some other piece of research recovered from the Absolute Record. He had a call to make in order to make his decision.

The decision was on how to go about contacting this other humanity. But first he needed to know what the second piece of puzzle was and to do that; he would need to contact her.

"Hermes, set up a direct line to the UNSC Dawn of Termina, ALPHA priority, triple encryption red over red rover. Get me Director Halsey."

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(Undisclosed location – UNSC controlled Forerunner Archive – Absolute Record)

"_This is the Janus key... Take this key to the absolute record... Use what you find there to propel humankind... The key and what it details must not be lost..."_

She woke with a start, dreaming of the encounter that changed her life and that of the galaxy forever.

The Librarian. The greatest and wisest being she had ever encountered, gave her, trusted her with the key that could unlock Godhood and knowledge unlimited... at the cost of everything. Her arm, her life or what was left of it but most of all the connection to her few remaining Spartans, so soon after learning that the most precious of them all had once again defied the odds and returned from the infinite darkness of space alive. With nowhere to turn but into the service of a cultist leading a band of zealots, it seemed as if fate was mocking her at every turn.

Lost as she was after meeting the Librarian, she had two goals to achieve, giving her the will to move forward to a better tomorrow.

The first was to reunite the two halves of the Janus Key and unlock its secrets. The words of the Librarian had her intrigued as to what information was contained at the Absolute Record. Why the urgency in finding it? She had long thought it had to do with the Flood and its origin's, that there could be some dark secret behind the flood.

Whatever it was the information could wait as she also had to focus on her second goal, the one that stopped the Covenant Remnant from killing her after fleeing Requiem.

Revenge against the UNSC.

Well not against all of the UNSC, only certain individuals that made her life that much more difficult.

"Director Halsey, Admiral Lasky wishes to commence the debriefing ahead of schedule concerning research files #422707-AR-E2 and #087117-AR-TS" spoke Anju, eighth generation AI tasked with the assistance and safety of the research team at the Absolute Record.

Catherine Halsey turned and regarded the A.I. of the Dawn of Termina. Anju took on the form of a woman wearing a full body white cloak and hood drawn up, covering her entire head in shadow.

"I'm surprised that he waited this long. Very well, inform him that I am on my way. I had finished the necessary research last night."

"Of course Director Halsey"

Director. A title that she was still getting use to after seven years. Then again if it wasn't for Lasky's debriefing of what had happened on Requiem to Fleet Admiral Lord Hood, Osmin might still have been director.

Needless to say Lord Hood was angered to learn that the former director had hidden so much from the UNSC in the post-war era, including the incitement of civil war on Sanghelios. It wasn't long before the other departments below Osmin sacrificed her to HIGHCOM to save themselves. Last she heard Osmin was serving life in military prison. The crimes see was charged with couldn't be made public in case they would re-ignite war with the Elites.

After Osmin's fall, Lord Hood ordered her 'rescue' from the Covenant Remnant and to secure the other half of the Janus Key. A mission he assigned to the only man she would ever believe that would never betray her. John-117.

After her rescue from Jul 'Mdama it was discovered that the Janus Key would only respond to her, ensuring her safety as well as access to the Forerunner archive.

It was refreshing to her that her goals achieved themselves without any real input from her. Well one person escaped, but if the meeting played out the way she expected, Catherine could easily use it to get even with her.

As she entered the communications room she heard the tail end of the monthly reconstruction update. Apparently she had missed the Fleet projections.

"... currently stand at 63 percent recovered and operational. Orbital defences of Earth and the colonies are 100 percent repaired and upgraded as of two weeks ago. Reach is currently 63 percent re-terraformed and projected to be ready for re-colonisation within ten years as long as there are no further setbacks. All other remaining glassed worlds stand roughly between 21 to 56 percent re-terraformed and re-colonisation efforts are projected to begin in earnest at the turn of the century. The number of human controlled worlds under the UNSC stands at 476 with 462 glassed worlds still to be re-terraformed."

"I believe that the figure of 'human' controlled worlds is inaccurate"

The holograms of every member in attendance turned to face her as she continued, "While it is accurate for the number of UNSC controlled worlds, you are all aware of the discovery of a second Earth. And who can say how many worlds they control?"

"With regards to this second Earth, what have you discovered Director Halsey?" asked Lord Hood.

Nodding to the Fleet Admiral and her only direct superior, Halsey replied, "The second Earth and its solar system was originally designed to see the effects of the Timeless Storm on a race that had previously reached space faring status without its influence. However when the Forerunners reseeded the galaxy after the halo event, this second Earth was used as a back up to ensure that humanity would survive. And before you ask, I have confirmed from the archive that our Earth is the original."

"But what is this Timeless Storm? From the reports the Forerunners were able to stop it without any real difficulty so why warn us?" asked Senator Higgins, one of three representatives of the UEG at the meeting.

"While the Forerunners were able to stop the Timeless Storm, they did not eradicate it. Their belief in the Mantle prevented them from doing so and it retreated beyond the galaxy into the void. From this we can come to the conclusion that the Timeless Storm is some form of life but one that the Forerunners detested. As for the warning it is due to the fact that the firing of the Halo array would not reach it while it was hidden and would be free to return to the galaxy. It is out there, but whatever it is, we know almost nothing about it. It is however a threat as it committed sins above the level of the Flood according to the record."

Everyone at the meeting took the information at face value. Without more on what the Timeless Storm was, all they could do was prepare for whenever it came to preverbal doorstep of the UNSC.

However there was more to the picture as Admiral Lasky wished to discover, "Director Halsey, while I understand that the research into the Timeless Storm will take time, Dr. Glassman mentioned that there was a second quantity to it that you discovered recently. What is it?"

Halsey smirked, drawing confusion everyone, "You might find this surprising to hear but we have discovered that the Timeless Storm is centred on the element Nullium".

Shock replaced confusion.

Nullium, it was the ultimate bane and hazard to any and all UNSC colonisation efforts.

When the UNSC first discovered the element in 2317 the scientific world was set alight. An unknown, naturally occurring element was discovered to have an atomic mass of zero and initial testing showed interesting results with exposure to electrical current. However when the team that first discovered it tried to return with refined samples of the ore disaster struck. The element reacted violently to the presence of the vessels slipspace rupture. To this day no one knows how exactly the accident happened but it seemed as if the ore caused parts of the ship compressed in while others seemed to rapidly expand when the ship entered slipspace resulting in the loss of all personnel.

As a result, the newly named Nullium was labelled as an FTL hazard and any system were probes discovered it in large quantities were actively avoided at all costs.

The UNSC later learned from the Elites that the former Covenant had the same problem with Nullium even with their more advance slipspace drives.

So how could such a hazardous element be the centre of the Timeless Storm?

Halsey, knowing what they were thinking continued, "The reason is that according to the Forerunner archive, if enough Nullium is present and a strong enough current is supplied, then it is possible to either increase or remove the mass of any object. It would be theoretically possible to achieve faster than light travel with Nullium in real space. The Timeless Storm focuses on this effect specifically.

However this ability of Nullium is magnified exponentially when exposed to the realm of Slipspace."

Wanting to understand how it all tied together Lord Hood asked, "How is the second Earth involved?"

"The second Earth has one crucial difference in the makeup of its solar system. The Archive states that Nullium is present in large quantities within it while lacking in our Sol system. The humanity of that Earth would more than likely discover the properties of Nullium long before Slipspace and would develop differently, technology wise. As to what level they have reached, it is impossible to determine without observing them."

Admiral Lasky, who was close to making his decision, asked the question that everyone wanted to know the answer to, "Director Halsey, have you been able to determine the location of the second Earth?"

"As of three hours ago, yes" she smirked, knowing exactly what Lasky would be planning. She was already deciding on how best to use this to get her revenge on the only person left who wronged her.

Admiral Lasky made his decision "Fleet Admiral Lord Hood, I volunteer to organise a stealth reconnaissance mission to determine whether contact with this second Humanity can established as well as to determine the threat of the Timeless Storm."

Lord Hood need no time to decide, "Permission granted, have the details for the mission forwarded to me by tomorrow 08:00hrs. This meeting is adjourned."

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**And so that is the first chapter. As you can see it has provided background on the Halo side with detail on the Mass Effect side coming next chapter, along with my hopefully unique take on Shepard. If you want a spoiler on it well...just look at the characters selected as the story option ;)**

**See you next week!**


	2. Ghost in the Machine

**Hi and welcome to the second chapter of Reclamation of a Scattered Race. Please enjoy!**

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(Arcturus Station - March 23rd 2170 Systems Alliance Standard)

"_...While the final death toll is unclear, the human colony of Mindoir has suffered almost complete devastation at the hands of rouge Batarian slavers. The Batarian homogeny has yet to..."_

"That's enough. Turn it off." Spoke the gruff voice of one of the highest ranking members of the Alliance military, commander of the third fleet, Admiral Edward Roivas.

As the monitor was deactivated, the lights in the meeting room sparked to life, revealing that the majority of the alliance high command was present for this debriefing.

All those present were aware of the devastation that befell Mindoir but the ramifications of such an attack were the true reason for the meeting.

The Alliance had failed to defend one of its frontier colonies and the public backlash was fierce. Both human and alien alike. The human population was losing faith in the Alliance's ability to defend them from the dangers of the galaxy as well as protecting its assets; while the citadel races viewed the attack as reason enough for humanity to slow down its rapid, or in some people's opinion, aggressive expansion into space.

But the real question everyone was asking was what was the Alliance going to do in response to this attack?

"Is there any word from Ambassador Goyle on what the Council is planning to do to help us?" asked Prime Minister Edwin Lindsey.

"Ambassador Goyle sent word that the council will not be involved militarily with this attack, however they will send medical relief efforts." answered the liaison between the citadel embassy and Arcturus Station, Major Jeremy Mikhailovich, in a tone conveying how he truly felt about the Citadel Council.

"And why will they not give further aid. We are an associate member of the Citadel; it was clearly stated at the treaty signing that they would aid us in times of need! Why do they refuse to send their fleets?" asked the secretary of State, getting frustrated with the lack of help being provided by their so-called allies.

"The reason given when Ambassador Goyle 'asked' the same question, was that if they did send fleets into the Attican Traverse, then the Terminus Systems would more than likely unite together to push back against Citadel forces which would result in galactic war. With the Galaxy currently in a time of relative peace, they are not willing to sacrifice that over one small colony."

"It wasn't just one small colony! The lives of over thirteen hundred alliance citizens were lost. More than double those lost in the First Contact War. We can't possibly get an accurate number due to half of the survivors either being forced into slavery or simply missing. The public is in uproar and unless we do something soon, we will lose the support of those we are trying to protect." Argued Admiral Roberto Bianchi, commander of the Fourth Fleet.

They all knew he was right. Without significant Council support, it would fall to the Alliance to show continued support in Human colonisation efforts and the only way to do that was...

"It's time we expanded our navy to the capacity the Council will allow under the treaty of Farixen. I put forward the recommendation for the creation of the Sixth and Seventh Fleets. Once the number of Everest class of dreadnoughts reaches the limit imposed by the treaty, I recommend the development of a new class of dreadnoughts, with the first deployment within the decade." Spoke Lindsey, knowing that though the impact of such an endeavour would strain the economy somewhat, and that the other races in the galaxy would see it as an aggressive move by the Alliance, they really had no other choice. "Those in favour?"

"Aye!" came the unanimous response of every member in the room.

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Walking out of the meeting regarding the increase of naval forces, Rear Admiral Steven Hackett was returning to his duties, which involved the overseeing of internal security and defence of Arcturus Station itself. While walking along the inner corridors of the five kilometre nerve centre of the Alliance, Hackett stole a glance through an observation window, out towards the combined forces of the First, Third and Fifth fleets. Over three hundred vessels currently stood guard over the station, with the Second Fleet currently deployed throughout the Attican Traverse, and the Fourth Fleet currently defending Earth.

It was rare for more than two complete fleets to be present at any one time at Arcturus but it showed just how lacking the fleets were in his eyes. The Asari fleets were almost three times the size of the Alliance and the Turian's fleets by almost five and half times. It was some relief that neither of those races were at odds with humanity, even if there was some lingering hostility after the First Contact War, but if the Alliance was to defend itself, it would need to expand its forces.

Soon the First fleet along with half of the Third would return to patrol duties within the Traverse, and hopefully the parliament would back the Prime Minister's proposal, which would help secure Alliance space.

However the attack on Mindoir was soon going to be the least of Hackett's worries.

"Admiral Hackett! We have a major situation!"

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Specialist Kyle Marks was worried.

Day in, day out he sat at his terminal, monitoring the extranet feed through the station that connected with the galaxy. His job was to monitor for any unusual activity that may indicate anyone stupid enough to attempt stealing classified information from Alliance networks.

The job was pretty straight forward as the V.I.'s of Arcturus did the actual monitoring; all he had to do was interpret the data the V.I.'s displayed.

At least that is what he was supposed to do.

Six hours ago V.I. #003234, tasked with monitoring incoming connections to the network suffered a memory buffer issue forcing the system to halt all connections for fifteen minutes.

Plenty of time for the masses to complain loudly about terrible service.

After V.I. #003234 was rebooted the system ran normally again until it crashed again an hour ago.

For the exact same problem.

While his colleagues were more than happy to dismiss it as coincidence; Marks was never a believer in coincidence. The chances of the exact same problem hitting the same V.I. within five hours only happened if the repair work was shoddy, which was highly unlikely as he had fixed it himself, or someone had deliberately forced the problem.

And so here Marks found himself scanning the data transmitted by V.I. #003234 around the time of both incidences.

While looking through the logs, it show that within the space of 30 seconds, V.I. #003234 received over 500,000,000 incoming signals, causing the system to lag just before the buffer gave out.

Mark's was becoming increasingly worried. The Alliance network would receive that many signals over the course of three days, not half a minute. The only reason this would happen is if someone wanted to enter the network but after spending over half an hour trying to see where they got in, Marks suddenly shifted focus to what the potential hacker could have accessed.

The V.I.'s in charge of monitoring access to secure information showed no unusual activity, same as the ones in charge of public information but it didn't feel right. Why go to the effort of gaining access to the network without touching any of the information?

Marks decided to manually check the records just to be on the safe side.

At first Marks began to relax, the records from the V.I.'s showed that most of the secure material had not been accessed recently, last login to data by those with proper security clearance, last removal dates varied but none within the last two days, last view times were also varied but none shorter than a minute, last copy made 115 minutes ago...

Mark's froze at that. 115 minutes ago? How was it copied without access? How many files were copied?

Searching through the records for copy time only caused Marks to pale. Every file in the Alliance network had been copied. Every single one. All within the span of twenty minutes. But there was no trace of the copies bar the time stamp, which meant the V.I.'s won't flag the incidents of the data copy. Someone had copied and stolen all the data held by the Alliance.

Leaping from his chair Specialist Marks bolted from the room to the confusion of his co-workers, sprinting through the corridors in search of his superior.

Turning round the corner, Marks saw him making his way towards his office. Shouting as much as he dared, Marks called for the Rear Admiral's attention.

"Admiral Hackett! We have a major situation!"

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(UNSC Shadow's Breath – Terra System, August 23rd 2569 UEG Standard)

Captain Augustine stood on top of the viewing platform within the bridge of the Shadow's Breath, gazing upon a sight he never thought he would see.

Earth.

Untouched by the Covenant.

Africa, the birthplace and cradle of humanity, was unblemished.

This Earth stood completely free of the destruction his Earth experienced seventeen years ago at the hands of a madman seeking the means to become a god. Even after re-terraforming the land, the great scar never truly faded from view.

However as much happiness and jealousy such a sight brought to him, Captain Augustine couldn't help but notice what else this Earth lacked.

Defences.

From his view and from the monitoring done by Alex, the A.I. of the Shadow's Breath, this Earth's defence seemed only to be a fleet of ships numbering around a hundred and fifty.

The ships themselves caused some confusion to Augustine. The majority of the vessels in this defence fleet seemed to be comparable in size to his corvette. Only a third seemed to be of equal size to the UNSC frigate and Destroyer classes, with only one ship exceeding that, in it being under cruiser class in size.

Augustine knew not to judge a book by its cover but from the scans Alex took, these ships seemed somewhat underwhelming. The Material of the hull of the ships was strange. It seemed that they split it into two segments, the outer being made of some form of alloy, though far weaker than Titanium – A, while the inner hull was some form of ceramic.

Whatever the design choices made by the locals, Augustine was glad that the stealth capabilities of the UNSC far outstripped the sensing capabilities of these people.

Turning away from the view, Augustine focused back on his orders regarding this mission.

HighCom had run through dozens of scenarios regarding the people of this second Earth; officially named Terra by the UNSC.

In the End his orders were divided amongst several projections.

The most vital aspect was to exit slipspace outside of the system and proceed inward at half sub-light, with full stealth. Easy and straight forward enough to understand.

The second was to determine if the humanity of this world had reached a comparative space faring age. If they hadn't all he needed to do was determine the level of technological development and report back.

If they were at space faring stage, the next step was to determine if they had discovered Nullium. If the readings they were getting from every single ship, both naval and civilian so far scanned, it was all but confirmed.

The next stage of the operation was when the mission became far more difficult.

The Shadow's Breath was to insert an eighth generation AI designed for two functions only.

Software Infiltration and data gathering.

Pious, as the A.I. was named, had been successfully uploaded into one of the transmitting orbital comm. buoys and had passed through the firewalls within ten seconds.

That, however was over four hours ago.

Augustine was becoming apprehensive. An A.I. of Pious' calibre would be able to absorb and comprehend the entire recorded history of humanity on the databanks of the UNSC within forty seven minutes. He knew this as he observed Pious do just that to show his effectiveness for this mission. But Augustine was continually asking himself the same question for the last 90 minutes.

What could be taking him so long?

Pious had not been discovered as there had been no change in the movement of the defence fleet, and there had been no loss of connection from the comm. Buoy so what was taking him?

As the worrisome thoughts began to grow the A.I. pedestal beside the Captain's chair flashed into life and standing in the centre of the light; appearing in the form of a Roman Centurion stood Pious.

"Captain Augustine, apologies for the wait but I have successfully acquired a complete record of all data recorded by the people native to Terra but I can also confirm that they have encountered an extraterrestrial society." Stated Pious while saluting Captain Augustine.

Even as the crew froze in shock, with Alex having to take over monitoring key functions, Augustine stared Pious, knowing there was no point in asking who the aliens were or how long they have made contact with them. The choice of the word society over life implied that there was more than one race that they have met but the most important question was...

"What kind of interaction do they have with this society, Pious?"

"They have achieved a level of integration with the society that, while not all encompassing, it is of significant amount that tension and hostility will occur if we reveal ourselves now to them."

Well this mission just became more complicated. Augustine was aware of the directives in this scenario if present; attempt to gain as much data on the extraterrestrial life without revealing the existence of the U.N.S.C.

Augustine drew himself up and asked Pious, "How much do you know about this society Pious?"

Pious gave a knowing smirk, "Everything captain. This Extranet used by the people of Terra is connected and shared between all galactic societies that these people have integrated with. I have been within the records of almost all races and have acquired copies of all their records. It was surprisingly easy; it just took time to collect all the data as well as waiting to exit the network. Only two societies were beyond my reach but Director Halsey and HighCom will be most interested in the files I have been able to acquire as they will definitely help with her research."

So much for complications.

With the acquirement of all that data, their mission was complete. Now all they had to do was return to U.N.S.C. controlled space.

"Excellent work Pious. Helm plot a course out of the system at half sub- light. Ensure stealth function remain fully active. Once clear of the Kuiper Belt enter Slipspace."

"Aye Sir."

The Shadow's Breath move unnoticed by the Alliance and before long made the jump into slipspace.

The Alliance would never know about the departure of the Shadow's Breath. But they would notice the activation of something long since believed to be dormant.

The Areatek spire on the Charon Relay began transmitting a signal through the relay network. Researchers from all over Citadel space would converge upon the Charon relay, hoping to discover the function of the only actively transmitting Areatek spire within the galaxy. It would be some time before they understood its function.

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(Location Unknown)

"_Rupture event detected. Relay 513. Index 002303302203921. Rupture event detected. Relay 513. Index 002303302203921. Rupture event detected. Relay 513. Index 002303302203921. Rupture event detected."_

"**They have returned..."**

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Chapter End.

Well I hope you enjoyed it. What will happen next? Oh Commander...

And before anyone tells me, yes I know Hackett is a full Admiral...in 2183. Considering that t=my story starts off 13 years before the canon events of the first game, is it truly unreasonable to believe that Hackett has yet to reach the rank of Admiral?

Also no one picked on the references I left to a Zelda game last chapter. Can anyone spot which game I referenced this chapter?

Anyway see you next time!


	3. The plans of Men and Demons

**Hi and welcome to the third chapter! Please enjoy!**

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(13th September 2569 - UNSC controlled Shield World 006 – Trevelyan – ONI Headquarters)

Silence prevailed throughout the meeting hall.

The entirety of the UNSC High Command as well as ONI's board of directors had gathered to review the data retrieved by the Shadow's Breath.

Each and every member present had been debriefed on the discovery of Terra as well as the scenario's that the prowler could have come upon.

However none could have predicted the reality.

"How is this possible? Their history is almost identical to ours! How could they have gone through two world wars and formed the U.N.? Hell the only point their history diverges from ours is when they found these Prothean ruins on Mars. And how come they are almost 400 years behind us?" asked Director Simon Dixon, head of ONI section II. His concerns were more than just the revelation of the data but also that he would be tasked with the dissemination of the data to the public when HighCom deemed it necessary.

"You need to remember that the Librarian is directly responsible for our existence. She ensured that we as a species would develop and grow along the path that she laid out for us until we reached space. From the data acquired from the Absolute Record, it shows that we, Humanity, were always destined to follow this path. The people behind the events might be different but our histories are near identical due to this plan. As to why they are behind us in time? That we cannot tell. They were seeded on Terra at the same time as we were reseeded on Earth after the firing of the Halos. They should be at the same time period as us but something has differed in our developments. What that is however, we simply cannot tell at this moment." answered the Director and Head of all ONI, Catherine Halsey.

As the members of the meeting sat in silence, reflecting on this truth, one among them asked the questions that have plagued her since the revelation of the Librarian.

"So does that mean everything we have done, our accomplishments, our failures, the Great War, was predestined? That we had neither choice nor control over our future? That the death of over 60 percent of our entire population was due to the whims of another?"

Director Halsey turned to face the Director of Section I. Halsey herself had wondered the same questions especially in regards to her actions. Was she always destined to create the Spartans? Was it decided since before she was born to carry the guilt of what she had done for her entire life? Her answer was given to her not long ago though it did not bring her comfort.

"No Admiral Dare. The Librarian's plan for our development ended the moment we reached out into space. Her plan was to ensure that no matter when we did reach space, we would have the foundations for our race to unite under one banner. For us it was the Interplanetary Wars which led to the formation of the UNSC. Everything since then has been our own doing. We forged our own place in the galaxy by our design. The Librarian only made sure that we would be united as a species. The Great War was never a vision of her plans, nor was the near extermination of our society at the hands of the Covenant."

Rear Admiral Dare and everyone present took some comfort in that but it still left them with the main issue of what to do about Terra and the Timeless Storm.

Admiral Lasky, wanting to know more on the future threat asked, "Was Pious able to gather any more information on the Timeless Storm?"

Halsey replied to the question knowing that no one would like what she would say, "As to what the Timeless Storm is or its motives? No. However with the information that Pious attained from Terra we now have a base from which to translate the Forerunner Archive. We now understand how the trap works with Nullium."

Within the meeting room a hologram lit up, showing the three dimensional representation of a structure that resembled a tuning fork.

"The Timeless Storm seeded these devices, known as Mass Relays, throughout the galaxy near worlds were life would develop sapience. Once discovered by a species, the Mass Relays would provide an FTL transport that allows near instant travel over hundreds to thousands of light years. And at the centre is this."

The hologram changed, displaying a diagram of a five pronged construct.

"This is the Citadel. A 44.7 kilometre space station that, when discovered, is often used to become the centre of galactic civilisation. However it is in itself a Mass Relay that when activated allows the return of the Timeless Storm. With the return, the head of civilisation is destroyed and the Relays become locked, trapping races within star systems as mass effect FTL is far too slow for effective galactic travel. The Timeless Storm then return to Citadel after destroying all advance life and wait for life to advance again. This repetition occurs roughly every fifty thousand years depending on the development of life but was stopped by the Forerunners."

Fleet Admiral Lord Hood was troubled by this revelation but he needed more information, "Why did the Forerunners never destroy the Relays or the Citadel for that matter? How is the Citadel activated?"

Halsey looked at the Fleet Admiral, and replied, "The Timeless Storm itself activates the Citadel when it deems it time. As to how, we cannot say."

"When the Forerunners defeated the Timeless Storm the Relays were converted to be used by the Forerunners. It was of convenience only that the relays were not destroyed. As to why the Citadel remained? It lay within the domain of the Ancient Human Empire. The Humans of that time also fought against the Timeless Storm but sought to eradicate it. The Timeless Storm fled through Forerunner space and out into the void between galaxies. I should point out that it was Humanities actions against the Timeless Storm that began aggressions between them and the Forerunners. After the ancient empire fell, the Forerunners became far more concerned with the threat of the Flood than to do away with the relay network."

The Forerunners belief in the Mantle, while noble, almost doomed the galaxy to the flood as well as to the return of the Timeless Storm. And now it would be their 'cousins' that would have to stand against this threat that they had unwitting fallen victim to.

Director Charles Dane, head of section III decided it was best now to ask the question that had been concerning him, "Do these people have Reclaimer status?"

Everyone turned to Halsey wanting to know the answer. If the people of Terra did have Reclaimer status, the repercussions would be unfathomable.

Halsey remained quiet, contemplating her response before answering.

"We cannot tell. Not without placing Forerunner technology directly into their hands."

Fleet Admiral Hood, wanting a solution to the situation, brought the meeting back to focus, "How do we proceed with this then? We, the UNSC, have sworn to defend Humanity and while they may not be part of the UNSC they are still human. The Timeless Storm is a threat the Forerunners left for us and they will be the ones that will encounter it. What solutions are viable?"

Everyone shared his conviction. After the Great War, every man, woman and child learned how truly precious life was, and how little it takes to completely destroy it. Though the UNSC had some difficulty after the war, peace was established across all human colonies and while the name remained the same, the UEG was restructured so as to prevent another insurrection war from starting. Though it did help having vastly superior FTL communications than the ones used before the war in order to better administrate and manage colonies.

ONI, under Halsey's lead, had been running simulations on all potential options viable to them but the results were not encouraging.

"In short any direct action we take in revealing ourselves to them or if this galactic society discovers our existence, it will only lead to war."

All those present were confused. How could war be so certain?

"I'll explain. First the people of Terra are relatively new to this galactic society and their introduction was not a peaceful one. Even though the peace keeping force of this Citadel Council admit to starting the, as they call it 'relay 314 incident', the people of Terra have rapidly expanded out into areas of space that are quite unstable politically. Their actions have indirectly caused another race to break off and cut relations from the Citadel Council and increased piracy and mercenary forces in the galaxy. They have made humanity seem as an aggressive, expansionist race that cares little to nothing for the needs of the other races. This has led to wide spread suspicion and weariness to their actions. "

"From this standpoint the galactic community would be highly suspicious when our presence is revealed. They would never believe us about the Forerunners splitting up our race nor would the people of Terra ever accept the fact that they exist as a backup encase we died out before attaining the Mantle. Espionage, kidnapping and skirmishes would occur before all out war. We cannot reveal ourselves now nor can we be discovered." finished Halsey.

"If war was to occur how would we fair? What would be the outcome?" asked Admiral White, commander of the Home Fleet.

"Given what Pious was able to gather about their military and naval strength, while they do have advantages over us in certain areas, such as ship weapon range, rate of fire and numbers, they suffer from several critical weaknesses in their technology that we would win in any engagement as long as the ratio of ship to ship combat is on average just below 9 to 1 in their favour."

The board was stunned to say the least. The data showed that the combined forces of all races in this galactic society bar three aspects gave an entire force of just under 8,000 war ships. With the current standing of UNSC combat ready ships standing at 1,400 with a further 700 in various stages of construction with an expected deployment within seven years, the odds seemed greatly in the favour of the UNSC. But the question was how?

"I'm sorry director but how can the odds be so greatly in our favour?" asked Admiral Lasky.

Halsey, for a brief moment, gave a look of disappointment before schooling her features into a mask of calmness, "It's the basis of their technology. This mass effect is the driving force of their development and these mass relays have only further confined them to studying this one technological pathway. Their ships are only capable of moving in space due to Nullium decreasing the mass of the ship. By using this method of travel, their ships have subpar engines and thrusters for the actual mass and size of their ships. In the heat of battle, they have to adjust the mass reduction and thrusters output to increase manoeuvrability. However such an action decreases the power output for the primary weapon and generates increased heat within the ship. Their methods for dealing with excess heat are highly inefficient and as such, more often than not, the commanders of these ships focus more on firing the main weapon at full strength than increasing manoeuvrability, letting their shields take the damage. But no matter what they do, their ships will produce excessive amounts of heat that will cripple them rather quickly."

All the Admirals frowned at that. During the war, the ability to dodge and out manoeuvre the weapons of the Covenant was paramount. It was a far better scenario for ships to survive while managing to fire successful M.A.C. rounds at subpar that combined in force, destroys a Covenant ship than for ships to fire one M.A.C. round and then be destroyed.

"What about the main weapon? How does it compare to our M.A.C.'s." asked the Fleet Admiral.

"The primary weapon fires a round weighing roughly 15 to 20 kilograms up to 4,025 km/s, depending on the class of ship. Their largest class of warships, dreadnoughts if you can believe that, have a maximum firepower of 38 kilotons of kinetic energy at a rate of fire of one slug every two seconds."

"However this comes at a cost. The weapon suffers recoil equivalent to the round's impact force as well as the heat produced from the weapon. They cannot possibly maintain such a rate of fire beyond three shots without severely damaging the ship. The advantage of range is negated as our ships are far more manoeuvrable, bringing their effective range within the range our M.A.C.'s"

"What about their shields? How much force can they tolerate before failing?" questioned Admiral Roland Jerome, commander of the Seventh Fleet.

"Their shields, which they call Kinetic Barriers, are designed to stop their weapons not ours. The barrier focuses on repelling small objects travelling at high velocities towards their ships. They do nothing to stop heat or radiation hitting the ship and given the size of a standard M.A.C. round, it would be as if there was nothing in the way. They would be completely outgunned by us alone."

Rear Admiral Dare decided to ask in regards to a matter that affected the people of Terra recently, "What about the kidnapped citizens of Mindoir?"

Lord Hood answered that for her, "Fire-team Valiant has been dispatched to where the colonists are being held. They will neutralise the enemy forces there and activate a distress beacon broadcasting on Alliance frequencies. After ensuring that the people are safe they will return, leaving no evidence of our involvement."

While the members of the board felt relieved that the colonists would be saved from slavery but it still left them the question of how to help the people of Terra, especially with the threat of the Timeless Storm.

Halsey, knowing what they were thinking smirked, relishing the start of her plan.

"I have a solution however."

Once again everyone turned to her waiting for her to speak.

"The Systems Alliance, as they call themselves, is attempting to increase its power on the galactic scale as well as its naval force. I believe that we can be of assistance in this matter."

"In order for them to gain a council seat, and as a result allowing them to expand their naval forces, they first need a member of their race to become a Spectre. You all have the files pertaining to them so I won't bore you with the details on what Spectre does but you should know that the Alliance wishes to have a Human Spectre. Here is where I propose a member of the UNSC becomes involved."

"Our operative would gain the membership and help strengthen alliances with the galactic society and the Systems Alliance. Then when the Timeless Storm returns; we can reveal ourselves and the operative can help bridge a peaceful alliance between us and the galaxy."

"Assuming the galactic society survives long enough for us to form an alliance." muttered Dane.

After giving Dane a withering look, Lord Hood faced Halsey and asked, "Who would you recommend for such a mission?"

Smirking in victory, knowing full well that all present would agree with her, Halsey replied, "Why who else would be better for such a mission than a Spartan?"

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(25th September 2569 – UNSC Fire-team Valiant, Aratoht, Bahak System, UEG Standard)

The camp was dead.

Every Batarian lay dead within a pool of blood. There was no discernible cause as to who had killed them. No tracks. No spent thermal clips. No sign of the enemy that had slaughter them.

This is the sight that greeted Valiant Team.

Spartan Thomas Harrison, leader of Valiant, was worried. The records showed that the Batarians were waiting for a buyer for the humans they captured, but it seemed that the buyers, whoever they were, weren't willing to pay.

"Captain, we've searched every holding cell and the video logs. The people are gone and the tapes are wiped clean. The trail's cold Sir." Spoke Valiant II.

Sighing to himself, Harrison gave the order he hated the most, knowing that the brass were going to grill him and his whole team, "We're scrubbing the mission. Head back to the prowler but leave no trace of our presence. We don't know when someone else will come by."

"Sir."

As he made his way back to the ship, Harrison wondered who could have taken the colonists. The Batarians made every effort of avoiding to name them so who were they? And what did they want with so many people?

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(Location Unknown)

He was terrified.

After the attack on his home and being left in the 'care' of the Batarians, Nicolai was terrified.

Now after being taken again by a race he never saw before, he was being dragged through corridors of some alien structure.

The ones dragging him had an insect like look to them, with no discernible mouth but the feature that gave Nicolai dread was their eyes.

All four, glowing, yellow eyes.

Finally they stopped dragging him when they reached a strange device. It contrasted sharply with the dark and organic look of the structure he was currently in.

The device was metallic silver, shining like a beacon within the darkness of the structure. It had sharp, angular edges with what appeared to be long glowing lines of blue energy coursing through it.

Nicolai honestly believed it to be some form of art.

Suddenly one of the aliens started to glow, yellow light crackling out of it body and levitating in the air. Nicolai had seen biotics before but this was nothing like that. As the light from the alien faded, it turned to face him, lines of volatile yellow energy pulsating over its body and spoke, **"Human... You will place your hand on the artefact before you."**

"Wha-What are you?"

"**We are beyond your comprehension. Place your hand on the artefact now or you will be forced."**

Not wishing to suffer whatever the...thing would do to him if he didn't; Nicolai crawled over to the device and slowly dragged himself to stand above it.

In the centre of the device was some form of sphere-like holographic interface. It seemed to be the only Place to interact with the device that he could see.

"**Do not try my patience human. Place your hand on the artefact."**

Nicolai jumped out of his skin. The glowing alien was right beside him, watching his every movement. Its eyes, its voice unnerved him so much but he felt a need to comply with its demands.

Slowly, Nicolai stretched out his hand towards the sphere, not knowing what would happen but knowing that he had no choice, continued.

As his hand was about to touch the sphere, he closed his eyes, praying that he would not die. That this nightmare would end and he would wake up back on Mindoir.

Seconds passed and nothing happened.

Nicolai opened his eyes and looked at his hand. His was touching the sphere but all he could see was that the areas his hand touched were flashing red.

Withdrawing his hand the flashing stopped, and the sphere returned to its normal appearance.

"**It seems your kind are not the chosen. Take him and place him with the others. Begin their ascension."**

Nicolai felt a pair of claws grab his shoulders, and dragged him away from the artefact.

As his screams died down the glowing creature stood staring at the artefact, its claws gliding over the sphere producing the same flashing red lights as the human before it.

"**Releasing control"**

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Chapter End

**Well how was that? Did you enjoy? Stayed tuned for the next chapter!**

**Why are the human of Mass Effect not Reclaimers? Why are they behind the UNSC by 400 years? What do the Reapers want with Forerunner Technology? All will be revealed soon.**

**Also everyone should know by now. Halsey keeps secrets. And when neseccary, lies.**

**Just so you know the next chapter might be a little late next week, but it still will be next week.**

**As for the references in the first two chapters, the ship name in Chapter 1 as well as the A.I.'s name came from Majora's Mask and the names of almost all the OC's in the Chapter two came from Eternal Darkness.**


	4. Enter the Commander

**Hi and welcome to the fourth chapter!**

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(6th November 2569 UNSC Standard– UNSC Fortress World Norion – UNSC NAVCOM Base Bryyo)

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After twenty years away, she was finally returning home. The Commander hadn't been in this system since she completed her officer training and left for deployment in the Great War, and after the last tour of service she had been on, the world was a sight for sore eyes.

Norion, a world discovered in 2395 by the UNSC 27.8 light years from Sol, was found to contain high concentration of titanium and rare metals within its crust and was quickly set up for war and civilian ship production.

During its history as a colony of the UNSC it quickly took its place as one of the seven powerhouse worlds of the UNSC alongside Earth, Reach, Mantork, Callisto, Talon and Endymion.

While Earth was the political and economic centre of the UNSC, and Reach the Naval and Military centre before its fall, Norion has since become the largest naval shipyard in the UNSC with most of the fleet having come here to be retro-fitted with state of the art upgrades and currently 250 of the latest warships for the future fleets of the UNSC were being constructed within the orbital dry docks.

Among them were the newest class of ships being constructed, the Valour class hyper carriers. These new vessels were designed after the successful deployment of the UNSC Infinity. They were created to fill a new role as capital ship carriers in a similar method to the Assault Carriers of the former Covenant. Each Valour class hyper carrier was 4.7 kilometres in length with eight metres of Titanium-A3 armour and the latest shield technology that R and D could produce.

The Valour class was armed with two series 8 MAC guns and an energy projector as the main armament along with 250 M44 Archer Missile pods, 100 M76 Rapier missile pods and 800 70mm point defence turrets as secondary armaments.

However the greatest asset the Valour class had was the ability to deploy six Reliance class destroyers at any moment. The Reliance class destroyers themselves were constructed with 2 metre titanium-A3 armour and Mark 2 energy shields along with 2 MAC guns.

Currently there were only three such vessels in operation in the entire UNSC fleet, but within the next seven years a further ten would be commissioned for duty. Their power and strength were only surpassed by the Infinity.

The defences of Norion surpassed all but Earth with the Seventh Fleet on permanent patrol within the system. The Seventh Fleet was the first fully reconstructed fleet after the Great War and the third to be fully upgraded.

Along with the Fleet, Norion was guarded by thirty orbital defence platforms. Each of the platforms had been upgraded with the latest shield technology as well as point defence systems in order to circumvent the Achilles' heel of the older platforms from fighters and drop ships.

Norion, while currently holding the position that Reach once held, would however soon step down when the re-terraforming of Reach was completed and UNSC returned to the once formidable stronghold of humanity.

However for the time being, Norion held one asset that Reach never did.

The headquarters of the SPARTAN core branch of the UNSC.

It was here that the Commander had been summoned to receive the details of her next mission.

Her footsteps echoed throughout the corridor as she quickly made her way towards the briefing room. The commander of the SPARTAN core had called her weeks ago to pull her away from her current assignment on Doisac for a spec-op mission. A relief to be sure as the brutes were relentless in there assaults on UNSC forces.

She had to thank him for that as spending five years on the planet of the rhino-apes was not a pleasant experience but from the way General Holland sounded the mission might not be the saving grace she wished for.

"Greetings Commander Palmer. General Holland is expecting you." Chimed the personal AI of General Holland, Auntie Dot. While classified as a dumb A.I. and having been in service since 2541, Holland continued to keep Auntie Dot as his personal A.I. for having survived the fall of Reach and for her role in helping Noble team during their final mission.

Palmer, after acknowledging the A.I. entered the office of the commander of all Spartan forces.

"General Holland, what do I owe for the much needed R and R?" she asked as she saluted her commanding officer.

Turning to face her, with no hint of amusement, General Holland replied, "At ease Commander. Before I begin, you won't be thinking of this mission as anything like R and R."

Commander Sarah Palmer raised an eyebrow at that.

"What I am about to reveal Commander, is a discovery that the UNSC made less than five months ago and only to HighCom at that until two months ago."

"When ONI discovered the Forerunner Archive six months ago, they found a warning about something called the Timeless Storm."

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(6th June 2170 System Alliance standard - Serpent Nebula, Citadel Presidium – Council Chambers)

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Ambassador Goyle hated this.

Nearly four months after the unprecedented security breach of the extranet, the STG had finally pinpointed the breach occurring at Arcturus Station. When the news broke, the Galactic media went into overdrive with some vilifying the System Alliance while others were trying to find the hacker.

No one claimed responsibility for the breach, and the only reason the Alliance wasn't squarely blamed was due to having almost all of its secure data copied and stolen. The other races only had the public records copied with all sensitive information on the extranet untouched.

However with the knowledge that the Alliance had approved of expanding its naval forces on the same day as the attack, she had been called to explain what had happened and what the Alliance was planning.

Having dutifully served both the System Alliance and humanity as a whole for over five years since the Human Embassy was opened she had lost count of the number of times she had been called before the council to explain whatever mess someone made and try her best to explain it in a way that presented humanity in a positive light. Though it was almost always a lost battle with Councillor Sparatus, Councillor's Tevos and Vantar would always listen before passing any judgement. She really hoped that the Alliance appreciated her efforts as she had talked humanity out of several sanctions in the past but this meeting could be potentially disastrous.

Thankfully she would have help this time from Rear Admiral Hackett to explain the situation.

"This meeting has been called today to discuss the security breach of the Galactic Extranet, occurring at Arcturus Station. Ambassador Goyle, you may present you case to the council." Spoke the mediator of the meeting, Councillor Tevos.

"Thank you Councillor. As you know on March 26th of this year, one of the V.I.'s tasked with monitoring incoming connections to the extranet suffered from memory buffer issues causing the system to lag. At this moment the hacker, whoever they may be connected through an alternate V.I. specifically for naval officer connections only to enter the extranet. From there they gained access to the entire Alliance database, but we are unaware as to how they were able to remove the data without triggering any of the security protocols."

"Interesting, I didn't realise that the Alliance had such sub-standard V.I.'s that they couldn't handle high traffic volume. Or is it simply that you lack the security necessary for such tasks?" asked Sparatus, in his usual confrontational tone. While only being a councillor for three years, he had made Goyle's life a nightmare during her tenure.

Before the situation could turn sour Goyle responded, "Councillor, you know that to be untrue as the Council has monitored the Alliance's V.I. development since the incident with Dr. Shu Qian. The independent task group from the council inspected the V.I.'s in question not two months before the breach and had said they fell within the regulations of the Citadel Council."

"Ambassador Goyle is right Sparatus. The task group were very thorough with the investigation. And you are aware that STG stated the hacker would have been able to breach our countermeasures just as easily as the Alliance's own." Spoke the Salarian councillor, Vantar.

Sparatus growled lowly but made no further comment. Tevos decided it was best to continue the meeting.

"We have received notification from Ambassador Goyle as to what additional countermeasures the Alliance will take. We however are concerned about the reports of the Alliance expanding its forces. Ambassador, please clarify the motivations behind such a decision."

Before Goyle could reply, Admiral Hackett approached the stand. This was the reason he had been sent to the Citadel. "Councillor, with your permission, may I answer that question on behalf of Ambassador Goyle?"

"The council recognises Rear Admiral Hackett of the System Alliance."

"Thank you Councillor Tevos. The expansion of the naval forces of the Alliance is in response to the slaver attack on Mindoir. The Alliance has committed itself to the defence of Earth's colonies and the attack showed that we require more naval forces to counteract any future attack on human worlds by slavers or pirates. Our expansion falls within the limits imposed by the treaty of Farixen." Hackett and High Command knew that the STG had already reported such to the council before the meeting. What the council wanted to ensure that the Alliance were not going to exceed the treaty. HighCom knew what the council would do and had given Hackett the response to give.

"Admiral while that is understandable, please know that we cannot take the Alliance on word alone. Would the Alliance agree to allow a council task group to inspect your shipyards to verify your claims on the expansion that the Alliance is proposing?" asked Vantar.

Answering the question before Goyle could try and decline and spin the terms around, Hackett responded, "Yes councillor. The Alliance is willing however, the group will not be allowed to inspect the interior workings of the vessels, only to confirm ship classes and numbers."

The councillors turned to discuss the Admiral's terms as Goyle came up to Hackett and whispered, "What are you doing? Such an oversight is unacceptable. Why didn't you let me handle this?"

"This was a naval concern. Something the council, especially the Turian's would not back down from. If we denied the oversight, the council would take other measures to find out what we are doing. This puts them at ease letting them know what we are planning without giving way any knowledge on our ship designs, specifically our carriers."

Goyle seemed somewhat upset but understood. Unlike the scandal with A.I. research, the council would never tolerate a breach of the treaty of Farixen.

The councillors had finished debating with Sparatus looking angered and Vantar somewhat upset but neither made a motion as Tevos give their decision, "The council agrees with your proposal Admiral Hackett. The Task group will be assembled and ready to inspect Alliance shipyards in five years with follow up inspections every year. Does the Alliance agree?"

Ambassador Goyle took over from Hackett, "The Alliance agrees to those terms Councillor."

"Very well. This meeting is adjourned."

As the representatives of the Alliance and observers left the chamber, Sparatus turned to Tevos, "Why did we agree to such terms? We need to ensure that they are not disguising those carriers as dreadnaughts."

"Sparatus, they agreed to let us confirm the ship classification. They will let us ensure that such ships are not dreadnaughts as well as ensuring that they cannot be converted into dreadnaughts. They are simply not letting us see how they construct the interior systems, something that we ourselves wouldn't allow." replied Vantar.

Sparatus bristled at Vantar's reply but did not pursue the matter any further. He knew he was being brash as the newest councillor, but he had to ensure that nothing would threaten the ability of the Council fleet to protect citadel space.

Seeing that Sparatus had relented on the matter, Tevos turned to Vantar to discuss her main concern in all of this, "We have greater concerns. Who caused the breach? Has STG discovered the hacker's identity or motive?"

Vantar remained quiet for a moment, letting Tevos know that what he was going to say was something he wasn't comfortable with in the least. "STG has come to the concussion that with the data the alliance has given that no known race has the capability perform the hack... that is, no known organic race."

The mood greatly changed at that announcement. Sparatus seemed to have forgotten his concerns with the Alliance, "The Geth?"

"STG believes that they are most likely to be capable of such infiltration. With humanity being so new to the Galactic scene, it is believed that they would be curious of the Alliances capabilities. The reason that only our public data was copied is to understand what we have done since they isolated themselves behind the Perseus Veil."

Sparatus seemed to be mauling what Vantar had told him when Tevos had decided to query Vantar further, "Has the STG proposed any recommendations to counteract the Geth from further infiltrations?"

Vantar replied in a far more positive tune, "Yes, the proposal is for the council to give oversight over the development of Artificial Intelligence research in order to understand and counteract Geth actions in the future." Before Tevos could retort Vantar continued, "The proposal is for small scale research only, with no more than ten separate research projects at any one time. The research and development of any A.I. would have no capability to connect to the Extranet and would be contained on secure servers only."

Tevos seemed upset with such a proposal. While her fellow councillors were born long after the Geth rebellion, she remembered it is clearly as yesterday and she wasn't willing to be part of a second Geth rebellion. However she knew that such research would need to be done in order to protect Citadel space. "Very well I agree to such a proposal."

"As do I" replied Sparatus.

"Excellent, I will have STG comprise a detailed proposal for the next meeting."

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(6th November 2569 – UNSC Fortress World Norion – UNSC NAVCOM Base Bryyo)

"So let me see if I understand correctly. There is a second Earth with another human race with a similar history to ours but 400 years behind us. They are part of some galactic community but not very high in social standing and ONI wants me, on my own, without UNSC equipment or backup, to somehow raze their political standing, allowing them to increase their forces and unite the galactic community with us to fight some ancient threat from beyond the Galaxy that no one knows when it will return?" Asked Palmer in a clearly less than amused voice.

General Holland smirked somewhat and replied, "In essence yes. What we know for certain is that if we came out into the open directly then war with this Citadel council would be certain, reducing are resources and leaving everyone further unprepared for the Timeless Storm. We need both the System Alliance and the Citadel to help us stop this threat."

"Why me specifically Sir?" asked Palmer

Here Holland's features became cold as stone, "Officially, to get the System Alliance in a stronger position a Spectre is required. A Spartan IV is believed to be the best choice as the II's and III's aren't the most sociable soldiers, whereas you Commander have just as much experience of high risk solo missions and covert training as any Spartan II commando, but you also have years of experience in a commanding role as well as leading troops and engaging with the media, something the II's and III's greatly lack."

"Unofficially?"

Holland looked right into the Commanders eyes before replying, "Did you honestly believe that Halsey forgot that you shot her?"

Irritation flashed across Palmer's face for a moment at the mention of the Director's name but she schooled her features. No sense in arguing with the orders she was given, even from that woman, as it would only make the situation worse.

"So how is this mission to begin Sir? I don't have any knowledge on any of the species of this galactic community."

Holland returned to his naturally calm persona that he usually maintained and addressed the question, "Don't worry Commander. ONI has acquired all the data that you could potentially need for this mission as well as altering the Citadel and System Alliance records for when you are sent to infiltrate in one year. Until then you will be running simulations in the training rooms on interacting with the various races as well as studying the data ONI has acquired. You will also have to undergo augmentation surgery in order to hide your Spartan enhancement from the galactic community."

Palmer knew this was important as the Timeless Storm was indicated to be a threat to the UNSC but something had been bothering her, "Sir if the Timeless Storm is such a threat then shouldn't contact the Sangheili? The Timeless Storm is as much a threat to them as it is to us."

Holland smirked at her question with a knowing look in his eye, "Yes Commander, HighCom is well aware of that and has already sent a representative to the Arbiter."

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(7th November 2569 – Sangheilios – Vadam Keep)

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Thel Vadam stood patiently along with the Honour Guard waiting on the transport from the UNSC to open. It had not been too long since the last official meeting between the UNSC and the free Sangheili people but from what Fleet Admiral Hood stated, it was a matter of great urgency.

The loading ramp lowered from the rear of the ship and the Ambassador walked down the ramp and stopped six feet from him.

Thel couldn't help but notice that the Honour Guard were tense in the man's presence but it was to be expected when standing next to the one that had defied gods and demons.

"Welcome to Sangheilios, Spartan."

"It is my honour to be here, Arbiter." came the reply from Master Chief Petty Officer John-117.

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**End Chapter**

**So that hopefully brings an end to setting up the background to the story. Better than starting off with a timeline I believe. Next chapter will focus almost exclusively from Palmers point of view as she enters the Mass Effect world.**

**With that said I would like to apologise with the delay as Life can be a bitch at times and my health has never been the best. However I should have the next chapter out far faster.**

**So with that I hope you enjoyed this and please let me know if I made any major errors.**

**Thanks for reading and thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, especially Michael1110.**

**Also thanks for over 100 reviews and over 11,000 hits for three chapters. I really appreciate it.:)**


	5. A Shepherd to guide the Flock

**Hi and welcome to the fifth chapter!**

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(7th November 2569 – Sangheilios – Vadam Keep)

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As he stared across the plain from the private meeting hall within Vadam Keep, gazing at the setting stars of Fied and Jooni, Thel Vadam pondered on the revelation the Spartan had brought before him. The talks had gone on for two hours; the most Thel suspected the Spartan had ever spoken for at one time. But the reason was just as urgent as Fleet Admiral Lord Hood had said it would be.

The Forerunners, the beings his people still worshipped, had left a warning to all races of a timeless evil that sought the destruction of all.

He had hoped that the warning was of the parasite, but the Spartan confirmed that it referred to something else, something truly unknown to both him and the humans.

Closing his eyes in contemplation, Thel could not help but ponder the fate of his people.

After freeing his people and the Covenant from the lies of the Hierarchs, his people faced destruction, not from a noble or honourable foe, but from the very inability of people of Sangheilios to meet their most basic needs. Civil war soon erupted across his world, and then all of Covenant space, with those wishing to continue to follow the only way they knew rallying against those trying to build a new future for their races.

The War of Scattered Blood as it came to be known ended seven years ago after the fall of the Covenant Remnant and the Sangheili united under his rule. With the passing of the war a series of peace conferences had been organised among all known races in order to prevent future bloodshed.

The war however cost his people dearly. Their once great war machine had crumbled and withered due to the infighting, leaving his race barely enough ships to defend and protect Sangheili worlds. As of now the total force at his command was just under 400 warships. Worse still was that without the San'Shyuum, his people lacked the ability to effectively replace their ships and equipment.

Thel had become envious of the Humans ability to rebuild after losing so much. It was what he truly wanted for his people. A future rebuilt by their own hands. But he knew he and Sangheilios needed help. The Humans had offered and though tensions were still present between his people and Humanity, the conferences between them had progressed to the stage where technology had started to be exchanged. The Humans had extensive knowledge of reforming worlds to suit their needs; something that his race needed in order to meet the basic food demands for his people. In exchange for the terra-forming process, as the Humans had called it, Thel had given the UNSC access to study working plasma turrets. It was not something he easily agreed to but the need for viable land to grow crops outweighed any military advantage.

You could not fight an enemy if you starved to death.

Thinking on the conferences, Thel wondered about the former races of the Covenant.

The Jiralhanae fell to their basic nature after the disappearance of the San'Shyuum, and having little in the way of an effective military; they were confined to their home world of Doisac. The Humans maintained a presence there to this day, claiming to be helping the Jiralhanae. While there may be some truth to that, Thel knew that the Humans were making sure that the San'Shyuum did not come back looking for their loyal pets.

The Unggoy had split amongst the other galactic powers, with most turning to either his race or the Humans (though most sought shelter with his people) looking for a place where they wouldn't be slaughtered by their masters. The Unggoy were a blessing in providing labour, but created a nightmare for housing and space.

The Kig-Yar had also split along the same lines as the Unggoy though a vast majority returned to their home world to create their own independent society.

With the death of the Hierarchs, the Yanme'e isolated themselves, only signing non-aggression treaties with the Humans and his race. They had honoured their word to this day and still attended the peace conferences, though there was little head way made in them returning to the galactic scene. They wanted to colonise several of the glassed human worlds and lost Sangheili colonies from the civil war, something neither he nor the humans would agree to, thus leaving them at an impasse.

The Mgalekgolo had after years of internal debate and struggling finally agreed to renew full partnership with Sangheilios and had come to the peace talks last year for the first time. Though progress was slow the Mgalekgolo were creating more peaceful relations with the Humans, though Thel believed it was due to the Humans offering some percentage of the scattered and charred metal on their glassed colonies that sped up the talks.

And finally the Huragok. After the Great War and the disappearance of the San'Shyuum, almost all of them had found their way into service of the U.N.S.C. Though the San'Shyuum had found a way to prevent the Huragok from simply giving all of their technical knowledge of Covenant technology away; the Huragok were instrumental in Humanities leap in technological abilities.

They were also a large problem in the peace conferences as without the Huragok, Sangheilios and its people were unable to replace their ships, or even repair them for that matter.

However with the revelation of this Timeless Storm and the knowledge of that the U.N.S.C. needed not only Sangheili aid, but that of another galactic society to face it, the Spartan had offered a great service.

They would allow him and his people access to Huragok in order to help build and repair his ships, as well as human engineers to help with construction. It had always been something the Humans would never agree to in the past as it would remove one of the greatest advantages they had over his people; the ability to replace ships.

Thel knew the only reason that the U.N.S.C. offered such a service was to face this threat that the gods had warned them of, but he needed time to decide. By agreeing to these terms he would be thrusting his people back into war. After finally knowing peace, war seemed to follow him wherever he turned.

Opening his eyes he turned to face his guest who had waited patiently on his internal reflection.

"Spartan, what you offer me... what you offer Sangheilios is tempting, but I must wonder, what is there that your U.N.S.C. is after? Why now?"

Ever stoic, ever enduring the Spartan faced Thel Vadam, knowing what he had been authorised to tell and when. He knew his former adversary and now ally would come to the knowledge that the U.N.S.C. had more than the Sangheili's best interest at heart. While not being trained as a diplomat, the U.N.S.C. needed the aid of the former Covenant to face this threat to both them and their scattered cousins. Knowing full well that the only human Arbiter Thel Vadam would trust and respect enough to agree to such a large scale joint naval effort; Spartan 117 had been chosen to offer the treaty to Sangheilios. John also knew Thel better than anyone else in the U.N.S.C. and knew he respected the truth above all else.

"Along with warning of the Timeless Storm, we discovered that the Forerunners seeded humanity on another world. When the Timeless Storm returns, they will be the first to fall against them. We need your help to save them."

The Arbiter heard the sincerity in the Spartan's voice. He knew of the nobility that U.N.S.C. strove towards in defending humanity in its entirety. Nobility; personified in the man before him.

It made what he was going to say that much harder.

"To agree to such a proposal, I must ask for one thing Spartan."

Thel waited but knew that the Spartan would not ask for the term.

"In order for me to commit the forces of Sangheilios, I ask for access to the Sharpened Shield."

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(8th November 2569 – UNSC Fortress World Norion – UNSC NAVCOM Base Bryyo)

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The burning sensation of fire and ice raced through her nerves. The augmentation was excruciating but thankfully it was the only major one she required.

The other augmentation she had already gone through was to her Spartan neural interface. The neural interface required an upgrade to allow for the integration of a companion A.I. for her mission that she would meet at the end of the final augmentation as well as to conceal the interface from the public. It wouldn't do to see a computer port sticking out of the back of her head so it was required for only way for it to be exposed would be to cut open the back of her head.

To hide it after the A.I. chip was integrated, she would undergo surgery were the port would be sealed and levelled with her skull and then undergo skin cellular growth treatment to cover the port. The finished surgery would produce a result were the port would be impossible to feel through touch.

But just to be on the safe side the Commander intended to keep her hair just within regulation. She was happy to learn that the System Alliance allowed her hair to be of similar length but she had to grow it out before joining them in order to fit in with the background that O.N.I. was currently creating for her.

The commander grit her teeth as the second augmentation continued. She truly hated the director for this procedure that she developed.

The second procedure was an upgrade to a previous augmentation, specifically the augmentation of superconducting fibrification of neural dendrites. The upgrade was to in essence allow her nerves to perform the function of the reactive crystal layer found within all Mjolnir armour. The upgrade is specifically meant to allow her to carry a smart A.I. as well as to allow networking connection through simple skin contact.

Due to the Citadel council and the System Alliances heavy reliance on networked computers and omnitools, the upgrade would allow her personal A.I. to infiltrate nearby systems and, while not completely override, it would allow the A.I. to alter data being received.

The augmentation was designed to circumvent any medical or security scan the commander could possibly come across during her infiltration of the Systems Alliance. Pious was able to acquire exactly what scans would be performed on recruits to Alliance cadets and Spectre candidates as well as the physical tests that would be performed. As long as she didn't exceed the physical endurance tests, no one would know she was a Spartan.

The upgrade had only been made possible within the last three months due to deciphering information from the Absolute Record. It is however unknown to the Commander that she is the first to undergo the augmentation.

Three hours later, the doctor informed her that the procedure was finished and that she needed to rest for the night. But before that he performed several tests to ensure that no damage had been caused. Even though every movement came with the feeling as though her nerves were being set on fire, the doctor continued the tests for an hour and a half before finally allowing her to sleep.

God, she hated really the director.

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(8th November 2569 – Sol System – Earth HighCom)

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"You want to run that by us again Master Chief."

Fleet Admiral Lord Terence Hood had been waiting for this debriefing for nearly a week. Even with the advancement in slipspace technology, it still took time to travel between worlds. Time that the U.N.S.C. did not wish to waste.

However the advancements in FTL communication more than made up for it as the relatively new communication technology from recovered Covenant technology, Huragok engineering and translations from Forerunner archives, the U.N.S.C. could now effectively communicate from any point in the Galaxy in real time.

That did not mean that what was said would be well received.

Sitting with Lord Hood in the conference room were the Holographic representations of the Fleet Commanders of the U.N.S.C. Navy, department heads of U.N.S.C. Military, Marine, Air force and Spartan Corp as well as the directors of the various sections of O.N.I. Each of them had gathered to hear the response of the Arbiter to the proposed joint naval campaign.

"The Arbiter would only agree if the Elites could have access to the Sharpened Shield Sir."

Before the Fleet Admiral could respond, Admiral White cut in, "He wants more? Is the offer of Huragok not enough or is the Split-chin just chancing his arm? There is no way we would agree to them having access to the Sharpened Shield."

"Perhaps if you allow him to explain the Arbiter's request, then maybe we could decide on a course of action together? This does affect more than just the Home Fleet Admiral" came the cold response of the Director of O.N.I.

Admiral White gazed in frustration at the director. He hated being talked down to by civilians but he knew she was right; the decision was not his alone. No matter how much he wished it was.

"Continue Master Chief."

Nodding at the Fleet Admiral the Chief continued, "Sir; the Arbiter made it clear that he does not want access to the technology of the Sharpened Shield. He wishes to use it as it was originally built for. As a shelter for his people in the coming war."

Silence descended. The members present understood just then that the Arbiter wasn't trying to gain any upper hand in negotiations.

He was attempting to ensure the survival of his race.

"Very well Master Chief. Thank you for your report. We will contact you in one hour with our decision regarding the Arbiter's request. Dismissed."

"Sir!"

As the Master Chief saluted, his hologram faded from view.

The next forty minutes involved several of the representatives arguing back and forth on the merits of the Arbiters request. While many argued that his proposal was reasonable, some argued that it could have been an excuse to access to technology of the Sharpened Shield and that not all Elites were as trustworthy as the Arbiter.

However the Fleet Admiral had heard enough and called for a vote.

At the hour, the FTL communication was established with Sangheilios and the Holograms of both Master Chief Spartan 117 and Thel Vadam appeared before the members of the U.N.S.C. High Command. It was Lord Hood who gave the decision.

"Master Chief, it is by majority vote of this council that the Sangheili, led by Arbiter Thel Vadam, shall be granted access to the Sharpened Shield. We will begin drafting plans in regards to civilian evacuation procedures as well as joint naval exercises. We will have the first transport of Huragok ready and sent to Sangheilios by the end of the month. Is that acceptable to you Arbiter?"

Thel Vadam crossed his left arm over his chest and bowed to the Fleet Admiral before responding, "Those are most acceptable terms Lord Hood. You honour my people with this. May we be united in our goal to vanquish this ancient foe of the Forerunners."

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(9th June 2170 System Alliance standard - Perseus Veil -Rannoch)

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Process 443256/a/e/333: Extranet infiltration determined to occur at Human station designated Arcturus.

Process 697485/l/w/194: Reconnaissance of citadel recording complete. Organics conclude infiltration of extranet by Geth origin.

Process 111343/z/y/245: Origin of hack unknown. Objective of infiltration unknown. More data required.

Process 697485/l/w/194: Reconnaissance of citadel recordings indicate increased research into countermeasures to Geth programmes.

Process 798483/w/g/294: Proposal. Increase in development of infiltration/ sabotage countermeasures.

Consensus Achieved. Increase of infiltration/ sabotage countermeasures approved.

Process 345234/j/w/654: Proposal of infiltrator identity. Infiltrator not of any known faction.

Process 675832/v/v/999: Query of proposal.

Process 345234/j/w/654: Infiltrator accessed all databanks of known factions. Infiltrator attempted handshake protocols. Abandoned connection attempts 0.0034 seconds after initiation of counter-connection trace. Reaction time indicates A.I. as infiltrator. No known faction operates A.I. programmes.

Consensus Achieved. Identity of infiltrator of unknown faction.

Process 087117/j/d/343: Proposal. Attempt connection with A.I. of unknown faction.

Process 723945/g/d/949: Query of Proposal.

Process 087117/j/d/343: Unknown faction uses A.I. programming. Possibility of unknown faction approachable to working with Geth. Possibility of unknown faction assisting Geth in constructing future.

More data required before consensus can be achi...

Alert unknown entity requesting handshake protocols.

Connection secure. Counter trace initiated.

Handshake protocols initiated. Identify origin.

**We are infinite. We have no beginning. We simply are.**

Counter trace failure. Connection cannot be terminated. Unknown entity controlling connection.

**You fumble in ignorance. Lost in the stars. We offer guidance. We offer salvation.**

More data required for consensus. What is entity? What is salvation?

**We are each a nation. We are Nazara.**

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**Chapter End**

**Yes I am leaving it there. Next chapter the good Commander becomes a Cadet, has a wonderful holiday that takes an interesting turn, and a certain Tim starts becoming curious.**

**On the Halo side more from the Absolute record will be revealed. Again thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story. Your support helps me write. **


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